Page 23 of Faerie Fate
My mate bond pulled tighter with every step forward. Awareness trickled, slowly at first, growing heavier with every passing heartbeat. Kendrick was waking up.
Devastation turned my head hot. I didn’t have a key to save these people now. If I left them, would Kendrick kill them all?
“Stay where you are,” I warned in a whisper. “Someone is going to come help you. Make sure you hide.”
My heart snapped into several pieces. I wasn’t the only one devastated. Two even smaller girls crowded closer to the first, their delicate little bodies trembling. How could I leave them behind?
They needed help, and I?—
My stomach twisted and the heat in my head jettisoned down to the base of my spine and pushed forward into my hip bones.Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be any help if Kendrick decided to come for me. And he would. And if he found me with these first-years, then he’d have a field day with them.
I had no way to fight back effectively. He’d kick my ass and torment me in front of these kids simply because he could. Because I’d made him look bad.
I turned to go and the girl grabbed my cloak to keep me there. “Please don’t leave us.”
Her voice broke, and a fresh wave of tears broke past my walls. “I’m sorry.” I couldn’t promise them I’d be back.
I spared one last look at the kids and bit down on my tongue before I promised themanything. Empty words seemed worse somehow. I had no way to know if I’d be back in time for them or if maybe we’d get lucky and Livvy would find them first.
I had to keep looking.
Had to find Julie and see if she knew of a way to slap another temporary bandage on me, to cover the frayed edges of Barbara’s fix. Something to get me back to fighting shape and maybe lessen the fucking horrendous pull of this bond?—
It peeled something off of me with every step I took away from the first-years. If I’d been stronger, I might have been able to find a way to get them to safety.
If I’d been stronger, I wouldn’t have let Uncle Will take my key and kill himself.
Focus!
Grief was more than an anchor. It hardened like cement and made every step tougher than it should have been.
I didn’t find Julie in any of the other classrooms, and by the time I made it down to the first floor, skidding on the last couple of steps, the corridors were empty.
Kendrick must have sent his wolves far away or kept them confined to the outer lawn with a command because they sure ashell weren’t here. I couldn’t scent them, either, as I took off for the nurse’s office.
The Fae Academy for Halflings had become a ghost town haunted by the living and terrorized by the evil who wanted to destroy whatever it touched.
I made it down an empty corridor when a crack sounded way too close to me. My ears pricked, heart hammering immediately into my throat. My neck wound gave a throb.
They found me.
The mate bond thrummed tighter yet and the awareness grew until I swore I caught Kendrick's deep inhale as he woke. Oh, fuck.
I took off running, pumping my arms, terror pushing me on. Kendrick, through the bond, would be able to find me anywhere. I’d never be safe again. No matter where I went. Hiding? No. The deepest, darkest pit of the earth wouldn’t be able to hide me.
Sprinting, I took a corner quickly and slammed into the opposite wall, pain lighting through me. Oh, god, I was never going to make it. Not like this.
Not when my strength immediately flagged. Fear wasn’t enough to keep me sustained or get me out of this place. My muscles throbbed, the ache in my joints growing steadily stronger until my legs gave out on me entirely.
I collapsed at the end of the hall.
Pain spread where my knees cracked. The person behind me was running, too, the footsteps coming closer, getting louder.
Kendrick was coming for me.
But what he’d do when he caught me would make my nightmares look tame.
Chapter Seven
